Surly Big Fat Dummy

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winjim

winjim

Smash the cistern
This is what I have been riding.

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It's great and my daughter loves it, although clearance for that child seat is very tight.
 

Heltor Chasca

Out-riding the Black Dog
This is what I have been riding.

View attachment 439652

It's great and my daughter loves it, although clearance for that child seat is very tight.

Some drooling going on. Pass the serviettes please. Is that the New Pugsley?
 

FishFright

More wheels than sense
Just looks like a gimmick built for the sake of building it. As far as I'm concerned anything with tyres that wide might as well have a 1 litre petrol engine shoved into the frame and be done with it. Then it would be a lot of fun! Can't see the attraction of riding a human-powered tank at all. The whole point of push bikes is they should be simple minimalist personal transport. Those things just look like cumbersome beasts that are slow, heavy and awkward to park and store. Might as well just use a van if you want to lug loads of crap from A to B and save the bike riding for journeys that are actually enjoyable. Where's the fun in being a human pack animal hauling a load of tools & stuff about? That's what internal combustion engines are for!

Would you like to publish a list of a approved bicycles so you don't have to post the same stuff over and over about things you don't like ? It would be nice for all of us.
 
I get the BFD, she can transition from the child seat to the deck and we can carry on, otherwise she'll outgrow it and I'm not sure what we'd do next.

From personal experience, you just keep hauling all kinds of stuff with it, and it becomes so normal and easy that you wonder why anyone else bothers with a car. We still occasionally get friends making well intentioned offers of the loan of a car "If you need something to carry the shopping"...
 

jowwy

Can't spell, Can't Punctuate....Sue Me
Would you like to publish a list of a approved bicycles so you don't have to post the same stuff over and over about things you don't like ? It would be nice for all of us.
any bike thats fun to ride and give's the purchaser enjoyment shall not be bought under any circumstances. its all just marketing guff for the brain dead among us that can't make up our own minds on what to buy..........in the words of monopoly " go to your local skip, due not pass bicycle shop, go directly to skip"
 

Bodhbh

Guru
Regarding the practicality of the BFD....it does look a little niche unless you have live in a hut in Alaska and have to lug fire wood 10miles across bog and snow.

However, I believe they have tweaked the frame a little vs the regular BD and made it stiffer. Also, just because you can fit 5" tyres on it, doesn't mean you have to - I reckon it would work well with 29" wheels and 2.35" Big Apples for general use, and you can set it up for more aggressive terrain as required. The whole Surly shtick is swisss penknife bikes that can be setup for a range of uses.
 
OP
OP
winjim

winjim

Smash the cistern
From personal experience, you just keep hauling all kinds of stuff with it, and it becomes so normal and easy that you wonder why anyone else bothers with a car. We still occasionally get friends making well intentioned offers of the loan of a car "If you need something to carry the shopping"...
I was sort of meaning what if she outgrows the child seat and I don't have a cargo deck to sit her on!

I love the tan sidewalls.

I stuck the Hamax on the back too for my youngest.

View attachment 439715

But clearance is fine!

View attachment 439716
I just find the child seat bounces and scrapes on the tyres a bit. It would be OK with a slightly larger frame.

Regarding the practicality of the BFD....it does look a little niche unless you have live in a hut in Alaska and have to lug fire wood 10miles across bog and snow.

However, I believe they have tweaked the frame a little vs the regular BD and made it stiffer. Also, just because you can fit 5" tyres on it, doesn't mean you have to - I reckon it would work well with 29" wheels and 2.35" Big Apples for general use, and you can set it up for more aggressive terrain as required. The whole Surly shtick is swisss penknife bikes that can be setup for a range of uses.
Yes, it is a different frame to the BD, not just wider. I think I would probably go for a plus tyre, say 3", so I can off road it. I hadn't thought about 29" wheels though.
 
As a roadie I was a bit sceptical when it came to Surlys in general but being involved with selling them and actually riding them I think I now 'get' them;only downer is that some models are a bit pricey here*(Midnight Special especially) but models like the Disc Trucker make great bases for custom touring builds.

*UK distributor Ison are doing some UK only builds using Halo,Genetic etc parts to keep prices lower.
 
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